PBS has decided to add some Hispanic voices to Ken Burns' The War documentary, with Burns' blessing.
Apparently it will not be spliced into the actual show, which is finished, but added to PBS' airtime.
Burns obviously can't fit everyone into his documentary, though it covers a lot of ground and more than a dozen hours, but the absence of Hispanics is notable.
I was reminded of a Hispanic awards show telecast I attended at the Kennedy center a few years back.
While everyone was crowding the stage afterwards to talk to Jimmy SMitts and Edward James Olmos and others----and I don't balame them--not an audience member that I saw made the several-aisle trek to where more than a dozen Hispanic Medal of Honor winners were sitting, some wearing protective helmets for head injuries, others with canes.
They had been recognized during the program to polite applause, about what a station weather anchor would get for one of those local Emmys they hand out like beads at Mardi Gras.
I was surprised at the lack of attention given what I considered a golden opportunity to thank some heroes who had put their butts and lives on the line for everybody. I made sure to shake every hand.
by John Eggerton
